Damper-controller.



F. E. ETZEL.

DAMPER CONTROLLER. APPLICATi0N FILED SEPT. 27. 191-7.

Patented une 4, 1918.

pus.

FRANK E. ETZEL, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

DAlVIPER-CO Specification of Letters Patent.

IITROLLER.

Patented June d, 1918.

Application filed September 27, 1917'. Serial No. 193,439.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLANK E. ETZEL, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Damper-Controllers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in means for automaticallycontrolling the operation of dampers, valves and doors of furnaces,boilers and the like, and particularly those utilized in the heating ofdwelling houses, whereby the dampers, etc, may be operated substantiallyat a predetermined time.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap and readilyoperable device controllable by the alarm key of an alarm clock, wherebya damper or the like may be operated by such key at a predeterminedtime, and whereby the clock may be readily applied to and removed fromsuch controlling device" in a convenient and expeditious manner.

In carrying out my invention I provide a frame or bracket adapted tosupport a clock, a rotative member adapted to cooperate with the alarmkey of the clock, a lever for connection with the damper, valve or doorof a furnace or the like, and a trigger cooperative with said member toretain the lever set until the alarm key has operated said member topermit or cause operation of the trigger for release of the lever foroperation of the damper, valve or door.

My invention also comprises novel details of improvement andcombinations of parts that will be more fully hereinafter set forth andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof,wherein,

Figure 1 is a side view illustrating my improvements and a clockcooperative therewith; Fig. 2 is a front view looking from the righthandside of Fig. 1, illustrat-- ing the clock in dotted lines and myimprovements in position set for operation; Fig. 3 is a detail viewillustrating my improvements in operated position; Fig. 4 is a plan viewof my improvements; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective of the triggercontrolling member, and Fig. 6 is a view illustrating my improvementsassociated with a furnace.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral views.

At 1 is indicated a suitable frame or bracket adapted to be secured toany suitable support and upon which an ordinary alarm clock 2 may beapplied. Said clock is shown provided with feet 3 that are adapted torest in spaced retainers, shown in the form of recesses 4 in the uppersurface of frame 1, the rear portion of the clock casing being shownadapted to rest upon a support 5 of frame 1. A coil spring 6 is shownconnected at 7 with the clock casing and provided with an eye or loop '8adapted to be detachably connected with a projection or pin 9 extendingfrom frame or bracket 1. By the means described the clock may be set inposition upon frame 1 and spring 6 may be stretched to enable its eye orloop 8 to be attached to projection 9, whereby the clock will beresiliently retained upon the frame or bracket. To r'emove the clockfrom the frame or bracket it is merely necessary to release spring 6from its connection with projection 9, whereby the clock may be liftedoff of the frame 1. At 10 is a rotary member pivotally supported uponbracket 1, and adapted to cooperate with the alarm key 2 of the clock.The member 10 is shown pivotally supported upon a post or pivot 11carried by an upright 12 suitably secured upon frame or bracket 1 as byone or more screws 13, adjacent to the back of the clock, whereby whenthe clock is in position upon frame 1, as illustrated in Fig. 1, thealarm key 2' will register with the member 10 to operate the latter. Themember 10 is shown provided with spaced projections 10 whereby the key2* may be fitted in the space between said projections to cooperate withthe latter for rotating member 10. As illustrated, the member 10 is solocated withrelation to the alarm key 2* that the latter 'may oppose theadjacent face of member 10 when the clock is held in position upon frame1 by spring 6. At 14 is a lever, shown pivotally supported at 15 uponupright 12 on the side of the latter opposite member 10. trigger orfinger 16 is pivotally supported at 17 upon upright 12 to cooperate withmember 10 and with lever 14. Said trigger is shown provided with arecess 16 to receive and coact with a complemental projection 14 onlever 14 to retain said lever in set position. Said trigger is alsoshown provided with a tooth or projection l6 to cooperate with one ormore recesses or notches 10 in the periphery of member 10, to permit thetooth 16 to enter the same for release of the trigger from projection 14of lever 14 (Fig. 3), and whereby when the tooth 16 rides upon theperiphery of member 10 the recess 16 of trigger 16 will re'ceiveprojection 14 to retain lever 14 in set position (Fig. 2). At 18is a spring adapted normally to move projection 16 of trigger 16 towardmember 10. I have shown spring 18 connected with a projection 19extending from trigger 16 and connected with lever 14 at 20, wherebysaid spring serves the double purpose of drawing the lower end oftrigger 16 toward member 10 and drawing lever 14 toward its normalposition after it has been released from the trigger.

Lever 14 may be connected with a damper, valve, door or other part to becontrolled, in any suitable manner. A chain, cord or the like 21 may beprovided with a loop 22 adapted to be connected with the free endportion 14 of lever 14, when the latter is retained by the trigger 16,substantially as illustrated in Fig. 2. Said end portion 14 of lever 14may be suitably shaped, such as illustrated, to retain loop 22 thereonuntil the lever is released by the trigger, to then permit said loop tobe readily disconnected from the lever. Chain 21 may be passed over oneor more suitable guiding pulleys 23 in an ordinary manner, and may be0011- nected to a damper 24 of a furnace, steam or hot water heater,boiler or the like 25, in any well known manner. Ihave illustrated thechain 21 as connected with a lever 26, that is pivotally supported at 27and connected by a chain or the like 28 with the furnace draft door 29,said lever also being connected with damper 24, the parts being soarranged that when chain 21 is released from lever 14, the damper orvalve 24 will close and lever 26 will operate to open the draft door 29.The arrangement described for operating the damper, draft door, etc., ismerely illustrative of a suitable arrangement for the purpose, and itwill be understood that my improvements may be utilized in connectionwith any suitable means for operating the damper, valve, or door, or oneor more of them.

in accordance with my improvements, when the alarm key has been woundand the clock has been attached in position upon frame or bracket 1, thealarm key will be set between spaced projections 10 of member 10, andthe key-will be retained from rotation by the usual mechanism in theclock for that purpose. l/Vhen it is desired to set the device tocontrol the furnace damper or the like, the chain 21 will be connectedto lever 14, with the latter and the trigger set in positionsubstantially as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the trigger will retain thelever, in which position the recess 16 of the tri ger will receive theprojection 14 of the lever and the projection 16 of the trigger willrest upon the periphery of member 10. The tension of chain 21 upon lever14 is such as to tend to cause said lever to tilt to release the chain,but the trigger 16 then will prevent movement of the lever. however, thealarm key operates, (in accordance with the time for which the clock hasbeen set to operate its alarm), said key will rotate as usual, and willengage one or more projections 10 and thereby cause rotation. with thekey of member 10, until a recess 10 of said member registers with theprojection 16 of trigger 16, whereupon spring 17 will pull the trigger,causing its said projection to enter saidnotch and its recess 16 to risefrom projection 14 thus releasing lever 14. The tension on chain 21 thenwill be released and loop 22 will slide from lever 14, permitting thedamper to close-and the draft door to open. Since the projection 16 ofthe trigger will now be in a recess 10 of member 10, the latter therebywill'be retained. from rotation and such member will in turn checkrotation of the alarm key. The clock, of course, will continue to runand its alarm mechanism will operate in the usual way until the time forthe next alarm arrives. When the device is next to be set in connectionwith chain 21, lever 14 When ie maining in the alarm spring of the clockto cause its alarm key to advance slightly when the trigger is removedfrom the recess 10", to cause slight rotation of member 10, to carry itsrecess 1O away from-projection 16 of the trigger, whereby the triggerwill remain set, resting upon member 10, until the alarm has againreleased the trigger in the manner before described. In case, however,that the alarm key should not thus rotate slightly the operator may turnthe member 10 slightly to present its periphery opposing the projection16 The description just given presupposes that the setting of thedevices in connection with chain 21 does not occur at the moment atwhich the alarm of the clock would operate. After the trigger has onceoperated it will retain the member 10, and thereby the alarm key, fromagain operating until the trigger has again been released from recess 10of member 10.

In case the key 2 should bear upon one or more projections l0 when theclock is set upon the frame, the spring 6 will keep the clock pressedtoward member 10, so that when key 2 rotates it will ride off of. saidprojection or projections and Will enter the space between theprojections, by reason of the spring 6 pulling the clock toward member10, the key 2 then being in position to engage one of the projections 10to rotate member 10. Or, the operator may by hand turn member 10 to moveprojections 10* away from the key to allow it to enter between theprojections.

My invention is not limited to the particular arrangement of parts setforth, since the same may be varied, Within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having now described my invention what I claim is:

l. A controller of the class described comprising a lever, a trigger toretain the lever set, a rotary member to control the trigger to cause itto retain or release the lever, said member having spaced projections toreceive a clock key therebetween, and a clock having a key cooperativewith said projections to operate the member for causing the trigger torelease the lever, a support for the clock to retain its alarm keyopposing said member, and a spring connecting the clock with the supportto retain the clock thereon and resiliently urge said key toward saidmember.

2. A controller of the class described comprising a lever, a trigger toretain the lever, a rotary member having a portion coactive with thetrigger to cause it to retain the lever set, and having another portioncooperating with the trigger to permit it to release the lever, saidmember having spaced projections on one side to receive a clock key, anda clock having a key cooperative with said projections of said member tooperate the latter to cause the trigger to release the lever, a supportfor the clock to retain its 'alarm key opposing said member, and aspring connecting the clock with'the support to retain the clock thereonand resiliently urge said key toward said member.

3. A controller of the class described comprising a lever, a trigger toretain the lever set, a rotary member having a surface cooperative withthe trigger to cause the latter to retain the lever and having a recesscooperative with the trigger to cause the latter to release the leverand to stop rotation of said member, and a clock having a keycooperative with the member to operate it to cause the trigger torelease the lever and to lock said member and key from further rotation.

4. A controller of the class described comprising a lever, a triggercooperative there with to retain the lever set, said trigger having aprojection, a rotary member having a peripheral surface to cooperatewith theprojection to cause the trigger to retain the lever and having anotch to receive said projection to cause; the trigger to release thelever and to, stop rotation of said member, and a clock having a keycooperative with the member to rotate it relatively to the trigger topresent said recess in position to receive said projection and to stopfurther rotation of said member and the key.

5. A controller of the class described com prising a frame adapted tosupport a clock and having a support, a lever and a trigger pivotallycarried by the support, said lever and trigger having cooperative meansto retain the lever by the trigger, and a rotary member carried by saidsupport and having a portion to cooperate with the trigger to cause itto retain the lever and also having a portion cooperative with thetrigger to cause it to release the lever and to stop further rotation ofthe member, said member having means to cooperate with the clock key forrotation of the member, and a spring connecting the clock with the frameto retain the clock thereon and resiliently urge the key toward themember.

6. A controller of the class described comprising a frame adapted tosupport a clock and having a support, a lever and a trigger pivotallycarried by the support, said lever and trigger having cooperative meansto retain the lever by the trigger, and a r otary member carried by saidsupport and having a peripheral portion to cooperate with a portion ofthe trigger to cause it to retain the lever and having a recess toreceive such portion of the trigger to cause' it to release the leverand to stop further rotation of the member said member having means tocooperate with a clock key for ro tation of the member.

7. A controller of the class described comprising a frame adapted tosupport a clock and having a support, a lever and a trigger pivotallycarried by the support, said lever and trigger having a complementalprojection and recess to cooperate for retaining the lever by thetrigger, said trigger also having a projection, and a rotary memberhaving a peripheral surface to engage said projection to cause thetrigger to retain the lever, said member also having a recess to receivesaid projection to cause the trigger to release the lever and to stopfurther rotation of the member, said member being provided with means tocooperate with a clock key, and a spring connecting the clock with theframe to retain the clock thereon and resiliently urge the key towardthe member.

8. A controller of the class described comprising a frame adapted tosupport a clock and having a support, a lever and a trigger 'pivotallycarried by the support, said lever and trigger having a oomplementalprojeclever, said member also having a recess to receive said projectionto cause the trigger to release the lever and to stop further rotationofthe member, said lever being provided with spaced projections to receiveclock key therebetween. v

9. A controller of the class described comprising a frame adapted tosupport a clock having feet, said frame having seats for said feet, aspring, means to connect the spring to the clock and frame forresiliently retaining the clock thereon, said frame having' a support, arotary member carried by the support and having means to coact with thekey of the clock, a lever, and means 1nterposed between said member andlever. for retaining the latter in set position, said member havingmeans to cause said interposed means to retain and release said lever.Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New Yorkthis 21st day of September, A. D. 1917.

FRANK E; ETZEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

